Coronavirus updates: Over 7,000 Americans died in past week

The increase comes less than two weeks after Halloween.

ByMorgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, Ivan Pereira, and Meredith Deliso
Video byJessie DiMartino
Last Updated: November 18, 2020, 4:38 AM EST

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1.3 million people worldwide.

Over 53.2 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their outbreaks. The criteria for diagnosis -- through clinical means or a lab test -- has also varied from country to country.

Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the virus has rapidly spread to every continent except Antarctica. The United States is the worst-affected nation, with more than 10.7 million diagnosed cases and at least 244,283 deaths.

Nearly 200 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, at least 10 of which are in crucial phase three studies. Of those 10 potential vaccines in late-stage trials, there are currently five that will be available in the United States if approved.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Nov 12, 2020, 3:53 PM EST

1 in 378 Americans tested positive for COVID-19 this week

Across the U.S., COVID-19 cases are up 41%, hospitalizations are up 20% and deaths are up 23%, according to the COVID Tracking Project's weekly update.

PHOTO: Firefighters and paramedics with Anne Arundel County Fire Department load a patient into an ambulance while responding to a 911 emergency call on Nov. 11, 2020 in Glen Burnie, Md.
Firefighters and paramedics with Anne Arundel County Fire Department load a patient into an ambulance while responding to a 911 emergency call on Nov. 11, 2020 in Glen Burnie, Md. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced Nov. 10 that he will reimpose statewide restrictions for the first time since the start of the pandemic as COVID-19 cases reached record highs in the state for the eighth day in a row.
Alex Edelman/Getty Images

With 875,401 new cases, one in 378 Americans tested positive for COVID-19 this week, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

Twenty-seven states this week hit a record for the number of new cases reported.

The seven-day average of deaths now exceeds 1,000 per day, a level not seen since the summer. States reported another 7,382 lives lost to COVID-19 in the past week, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

ABC News' Brian Hartman contributed to this report

Nov 12, 2020, 3:26 PM EST

Utah positivity rate at 23.3%, cases 'accelerating'

In Utah, where the seven-day positivity rate stands at 23.2%, cases are "accelerating," said Gov. Gary Herbert.

"The positivity rate should cause us all concern," Herbert said.

Kim Tapia holds her granddaughter Amariah Lucero, 3, as she's tested at the Utah National Guard's mobile testing site for COVID-19, Nov. 10, 2020, in Salt Lake City.
Rick Bowmer/AP

The governor warned, "The rooms in intensive care units are getting to the point of being overcrowded." Hospitals are at 87.5% capacity, said state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn.

Nov 12, 2020, 3:03 PM EST

Georgia secretary of state quarantining after wife tests positive 

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who held a news conference Wednesday in the wake of the presidential election, is now self-quarantining after his wife tested positive for COVID-19, Raffensperger's deputy, Jordan Fuchs, told ABC News.

The secretary of state will be tested and results will be released.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks during a news conference on Nov. 11, 2020, in Atlanta.
Brynn Anderson/AP, FILE

ABC News' Quinn Scanlan contributed to this report

Nov 12, 2020, 2:48 PM EST

Stay-at-home advisory to go into effect in Chicago due to 'ongoing surge'

A stay-at-home advisory will go into effect in Chicago on Monday morning "due to the alarming and ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases," Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Thursday.

Despite temperatures in the mid-forties, customers continue to patronize restaurants and bars in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago on Nov. 11, 2020.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Lightfoot is asking residents to "stay home unless for essential reasons" and "stop having guests over—including family members you do not live with."

She's urging residents to avoid nonessential travel, including canceling traditional Thanksgiving plans.

"Our goal now is the same as it was during the first surge: bend the curve. The more we bend the curve, the more we can reopen our businesses and get our lives back to some sense of normalcy," she tweeted.

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